Two of a Kind
by flameo weedman
Summary: It's Selection time in Illea again, this time for bisexual Crown Prince Kegan. Kegan was hoping for a Selection where he can find love, but his father's failing health casts a grim shadow over the whole affair. Will he find love in these trying times, or will he settle for a partner to help him shoulder the responsibility of ruling? Or can he get it all in one? Bisexual SYOC
1. Chapter 1 - Kegan

_\- Kegan -_

Kegan was awoken by a scream.

"KAL IS COMING HOME!" Korra screamed, landing on his bed and bouncing off beat to him.

Kegan flailed, legs tangling in the sheets and also his little sister. Seventeen years old and she still had no idea what boundaries, or locked doors, meant. He shoved Korra towards the foot of his bed, her mane of curls totally obscuring her face.

"Korra, come on!"

A pillow landed on his face when he sat up.

"You're just jealous that Ma's favorite son is coming home!" Korra laughed, dodging a pillow as she danced back towards the door. "Now hurry up, breakfast is almost ready!"

"Unbelievable," Kegan told Rex, his mutt, who trotted over as Kegan swung his leg over the side of the bed. "I'm supposed to deal with her?"

Rex whined sympathetically and Kegan patted his head.

"You're a good boy, at least."

His history books spoke of a time (only eighty years earlier) when everyone in the castle was required to wear formal wear at all times. Kegan had never been more grateful when his father abolished that rule, he mused as he trudged to breakfast in basketball shorts and a hoodie. He slid into his chair just as his mother breezed into the room, dirt staining the hem of her khaki colored capris. Korra was still in her size xx large t-shirt with the Italian flag emblazoned on it, a present sent from Kal during his time in Italy that she wore as pajamas. At least she had the decency to wear a pair of shorts with it outside her room.

Kegan wondered what kinds of rules would change during his Selection.

Here's the thing: three people knew about his selection at the moment: his mother, his father, and his twin. Korra didn't know about it, because if Korra knew about it, she'd never stop talking about it, and the whole kingdom would know about the Selection faster than the rest of the palace would know. His Selection was the whole reason Kal was coming home from Swendway, with his girlfriend, the Italian princess Alessia.

It had honestly been his mother, Queen Galatea's, idea, the Selection. She wanted him to find love, like his father, King Orsen, had. But his father's health was failing. They kept up a good front, but the doctors said he only had a few months left at the most. Kegan needed to be ready to stabilize a grieving country, and to do that, he needed someone who could stabilize _him._ The world already saw them as kind of weird.

The king who got so caught up in his architecture designs he loses track of hours at a time, gets so deep into a passionate discussion of politics he ends up shouting about it, an alive look lighting up his face, or the queen who spends every spare moment she has working in her gardens, sorting plants and weeding and barely noticing if someone shouts her name because she's so focused. The crown prince who becomes sullen and silent if he stays out too long, becomes sharp and biting when addressed sometimes, but also becomes extremely animated when talking about his plans for the future of Illea, and don't even bring up planes or he'll go on a tangent hours long about how they work and how they could be improved. The other prince - because that's how they end up describing him, instead of "Prince Kallus" or even "Prince Kal" - is the one everyone _wishes _were crown prince, only because he's genuinely happy and excitable, but in a good way, and his natural friendliness always ends up mistaken as flirting, and he's free with compliments, but sometimes he shows up in a _dress _to a formal function and spends the night dancing first with the German Prince, but then a Swendish lairde, and no one could handle a _prince _breaking stereotypes like that. Even Korra wasn't above scrutiny, with all her learning martial arts and self defense, and then travelling the country and _teaching _girls those things, and her obsession with science and math and technological advances, and her tendency to lash out at injustices with quick and sharp words, and wasn't good at keeping things to herself.

So yes, a selection was in the family's best interest, and Kegan really, desperately hoped that his amendment would go over well with his parents.

"Good morning, loves," Galatea greeted as she sat down next to her husband's currently empty chair, lightly touching Kegan's shoulder.

"Morning, Ma!" Korra crowed, Kegan only leaning into her touch with a smile. "When's Kal getting here?"

Galatea laughed.

"So eager. You have to learn patience at some point, Korra."

When Korra realized this was all the answer she was getting out of her mother, her mouth twisted up in disappointment and she slumped in her chair to stir her oatmeal idly, pulling her phone and earbuds from somewhere on her person. It was a mystery how she always seemed to pull various pieces of technology out of nowhere, and it was something Kegan would have been looking into, had he not been planning a Selection on the downlow. He wanted to discuss it with the whole family, but seeing as he had his mother's undivided attention at the moment, and Korra was preoccupied with her oatmeal and phone, he thought he might have a better chance here than originally calculated.

"Ma?" he began, tentatively. Galatea glanced at him, a touch of concern in her face.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the - _thing_," he hissed, continuing at his mother's nod. "I want to open it to- to boys as well. Half girls, half boys."

It was out. Kegan thought he might throw up as he watched his mother think it other and formulate a response. Then she smiled, and he thought he might throw up from relief.

"I think that's a wonderful idea! Especially with all the progress that's been made in acceptance."

Korra spoke up suddenly, obviously only having heard the last sentence.

"I think it's stupid that people had to work to be accepted anyway," she spat derisively. "Nobody should be angry at anyone else over who they love."

"Korra, you're absolutely right," came a voice that hadn't been heard in person in over a year.

Prince Kallus Abernathey stood in the doorway, a bright grin on his face as he waited for Korra to bowl him over with the force of her hug. It was just then that Orsen decided to make his appearance, lighting up at the sight of his second son, and they all converged on Kal, everyone talking at once and over top of each other.

"Hey, hey, wait a second!" Kal laughed, the middle of the family group hug. "My skills of understanding four people talking at once seem to have gotten rusty. One at a time, please."

By the time they seem sufficiently caught up, it was the middle of the afternoon, and everyone's itinerary for the day had been cancelled, and they'd barely eaten a light lunch on the back deck for all their catching up. Kegan thought he might get away with not bringing up the Selection, but then his parents exchanged a glance that all three kids caught right away. Korra pounced.

"So what's going on?" she demanded eagerly.

"We've all been discussing it," Orsen began, "and-"

"I'm having a Selection," Kegan blurted before he could stop himself.

Korra Abernathey, Princess of Illea, third in line to the throne, honest-to-God _shrieked._

It wasn't even a bad shriek, or even a surprised shriek, it was a genuine, _holy-crap-this-is-the-best-news_ shriek, complete with her sitting back in her seat and kicking her feet delightedly.

"_Holy crap, this is the best news!"_ she yelled excitedly. "Keeg, you gotta let me help!"

"That's not just it, Kor," Kegan interrupted. "It's - it's not just girls. It's boys too."

That brought a pause. And then more shrieking, and a high five from Kal.

Maybe all the attention wouldn't be so bad after all. Kal and his girlfriend would take some of the pressure off, and Korra always had ways of getting her fair share of public attention. It was second nature.

Angelique Fadaye carried on the family business with as much poise and suave charm as every other Fadaye before her, bringing fashion and news into the same scene as only a Fadaye could. Since Korra wasn't into fashion that much, Angelique took it upon herself to be the fashion icon of Illea, and she took that job very seriously, as seriously as she took adding sparkling silver highlights to her hair, and as seriously as her job as national news anchor.

It was impressive honestly, but knowing that almost everything she said is scripted definitely helped bring her back into mortal light. Kegan didn't step onto the set of the Report without a crumpled piece of paper shoved in his pocket covered in what he was supposed to say or do. Tonight, that piece of paper had the most terrifying lines written on them that he would ever say on national television, and he kind of hoped the wires would short circuit and the Report would be cut short tonight.

No such luck. Angelique greeted Illea with her hundred-watt smile, and chattered on about whatever it was that was important enough to be mentioned by Angelique Fadaye, before turning her attention, and therefore the attention of almost every person in Illea, to the five Royals seated with grace and poise.

"And of course, a very special welcome home to our own Prince Kallus!" Angelique sang, swinging one arm in a graceful arc towards the royal family as she stepped out of camera. Everyone on set began to cheer, and no doubt a good portion of people watching and listening to the Report as well, as Kal stood up, grinning wide, and waved to the camera.

"I'd like to thank you all for the warm welcome home," he said easily, as if he hadn't been pacing the hallway not twenty minutes earlier, muttering "_I'd like to thank you all for the warm welcome home," _over and over again. "It means so much to me that you missed me during my travels aboard. Of course, I don't come home without reason, and tonight, I have two reasons. The first, because I missed my family, and my country, very much. Traveling has been an amazing experience and I look forward to continuing, but sometimes you need to remember where you came from. I needed a reminder why I am out there, making friends with as many people as I can. I travel and form relationships internationally for every one of you watching. My friends, I travel for you."

"_Holy shit," _Korra hissed under her breath through a grin, as she clapped with everyone else. "_How does he do that?"_

"_No idea," _Kegan hissed back.

As the applause and cheers died down, Kal began to speak again.

"Of course, the second reason, is almost more important than that, and it is for my brother, your Crown Prince, to explain. Ladies and gentlemen, Prince Kegan," Kal said, transitioning smoothly with a wave towards Kegan, sitting as Kegan stood, a perfect mirror.

He spotted Angelique off stage, a smile on her face as she flipped him two supportive thumbs up. He'd never had any older siblings but Angelique was always a ready ear to listen with plenty of good advice to give and that probably made er the closest he had, and her support meant the world. He could do this.

"Citizens of Illea, ladies and gentlemen, my friends," Kegan said, the opening that had taken him and his father and hour to perfect. "Tonight, I share some very special, and very exciting news with you all. Tonight, I announce my very own Selection. And tonight, I open the doors for the very first Selection open for women _and _men."

Kegan was very nearly overwhelmed with the positive reaction that got him. Logically, he knew there was a good portion of people who probably hated him now, but he couldn't quite care. That was it. This was happening. He was going to have his Selection, and he will get to choose from both men and women.

Kegan had always wanted to be remembered. He hoped this was enough.

* * *

It's SYOC time, folks! This is going a little differently than most SYOCs, because I am going to take seventeen slots and fill them myself. That leaves eighteen slots open for y'all to fill to you hearts content, but I can only accept eight boys and eight girls. Trans characters welcome. The cutoff is August 30. Tell your friends!

Name:

Age (18-21):

Province:

Sexuality:

Gender:

Appearance/Face Claim:

Personality:

Style (pre-Selection):

Style: (during Selection):

Family (Name, Age, Brief Description):

Friends: (Name, Age, Brief Description):

Past:

Job/Occupation:

Any Mental Illnesses:

Hobbies:

Fears:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Opinion/treatment of King Orsen Abernathey:

Opinion/treatment of Queen Galatea Abernathey:

Opinion/treatment of Crown Prince Kegan Abernathey:

Opinion/treatment of Prince Kallus "Kal" Abernathey:

Opinion/treatment of Princess Korra Abernathey:

Maids (three maids, Name, Brief Description):

Treatment of Staff:

Treatment of other Female Selected:

Treatment of other Male Selected:

Five random facts:

Other:


	2. Chapter 2 - Korra

The castle was alive with activity starting the moment the Report ended. Kegan still looked dazed, like he couldn't believe he'd actually stood up and talked to the camera, and honestly, she couldn't believe it either. Kegan hated the attention and pressure of talking to the press or the cameras, and while she had zero problem with it (and admittedly, zero problem with talking in the first place), she could understand why he didn't like it. Everyone staring at you, just waiting for you to mess up or say something that could get wildly misconstrued for tabloid purposes.

"Keeg, that was amazing!" she exclaimed once the cameras shut off, pummeling her brother first with her fists and then latching on in a hug. "That was fantastic! Sure, you might not rival Kal at the whole speech thing, but I mean, for you that was a masterpiece! Genuinely impressed here!"

"Korra, I barely said a paragraph," Kegan argued weakly. Kal threw his arm around Kegan's shoulders.

"Listen, dude, she's not exaggerating. I know how tough it is for you to talk to the cameras. You did really well."

"Thanks," Kegan mumbled, watching his shoes as the left the set.

"I agree," Orsen said, as the king and queen approached their children. "I think it deserves a midnight dessert kitchen raid."

Laughing manically, Korra shoved her brothers the direction of the kitchen

"Quick!" she shrieked, "Go before Mom makes us go to bed!"

Successfully, because now Kegan and Kal were laughing too, Korra raced her brothers through the castle, all three of them thundering down the stairs to the sprawling kitchen. She could hear her parents laughing behind her, and mentally punched the air. Family seriousness dissipated.

Gathering on the top of one of the massive metal tables, sitting cross-legged in a circle, Korra, Kegan, and Kal shared a tub of chocolate chip ice cream, Orsen and Galatea watching their children with soft smiles.

"It's getting late," Galatea said after a few minutes. She slipped her arm through Orsen's in support. "We're going to turn in. Don't stay up too late, darlings."

A chorus of "we won't"s that was probably a lie ushered the King and Queen up the stairs. Korra turned eagerly to her brothers.

"Okay, the parentals are gone, we can talk freely," she said, grinning. "I wanna know what Alessia isn't here yet."

"I came from Swendway, dummy," Kal laughed. "She went back to Italy after Germany, remember? She'll be here in a few days."

"Okay, I'll allow it," Korra said imperiously. She grinned and nudged Kegan who was steadily scooping away at his ice cream. He glanced up, blinking. "I wonder which one of you is getting married first," she said slyly.

Kal choked on his ice cream, and Kegan turned bright red.

"Shut up," Kegan mumbled, shoving another bite of ice cream into his mouth. "What do you know."

"I know enough that I'd rather have a lizard than a boyfriend," Korra said matter-of-factly, shrugging as she scooped up a bite with more chocolate chips than vanilla ice cream. She hopped lightly off the table. "Well, I have a speech to write for that debate, y'know."

"Oh, yeah?" Kal asked, sitting up straighter. "What's it about this time? I saw your televised one about equal rights for women of color, it was really inspiring."

Korra preened as she answered,

"It's about what resources should be provided at low to no cost for LGBT+ folks."

Kal hopped off the table and ruffled her messy curls.

"Knock 'em dead."

Korra grinned wickedly.

"I plan on it."

* * *

"Those forms sent out yet, Mama?" Korra asked, gliding blithely into her mother's office the next morning.

Galatea looked up, smiling at her daughter, and patted the edge of her desk. Korra hopped up on the clear edge of the cluttered desk and peered down at the mostly-complete form Galatea was touching up.

"Just approving them and then handing it over to Minerva."

"Minerva?" Korra asked. "Do we know a Minerva?"

Galatea gave her a conspiratorial smile and stood, crooking her finger in the universal gesture of 'follow me.'

"We know her husband," Galatea said, sweeping into the hallway, Korra close on her heels. The queen headed briskly through the castle, until they reached the Great Room, which had exploded into activity overnight. Maids were cleaning and dusting, guards had discarded their livery and rolled up their sleeves to move furniture and ladders, hired help were decorated the walls, and at the epicenter of it all was a man and a woman.

The woman held in one hand a ceramic coffee cup with a lid, and in the other, she held a clipboard. She was dressed in a sleek white suit, wore sleek white flats, and her coppery hair was pulled into a sleek updo. The man wore slacks and a dress shirt that previously looked like it had been pressed, but was now wrinkled from activity and rumpled where his sleeves were rolled back.

"Minerva and Oliver Monaghan," Galatea said, pointing.

Minerva and Oliver were working seamlessly off each other, Minerva reading something off her board and calling orders for the guards moving furniture and Oliver directing and attending the decorations and flower arrangements that had just arrived.

"Holy shit," Korra said blankly.

"Language, my love," Galatea laughed, looping her arm through Korra's. "But yes. Holy shit, indeed. The two of them are quite the force of nature."

Oliver Monaghan had a magical touch when it came to flower arrangements and decor. His business had boomed after the palace hired him out for Korra's thirteenth birthday party, and he'd been around for several occasions, but she hadn't known he was married.

Minerva looked over at the doorway they stood in sharply, like they'd caught her eye, and began to make her way across the room towards them.

"Come," said Galatea. "Let me introduce you."

Minerva, Galatea, and Korra came together not fifty feet from the doorway, and Minerva inclined her head.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness. I was hoping to see you."

"Yes, of course. The forms are approved, I hope they can be sent out within the hour," Galatea said, and Korra loved to watch the transition Galatea made from Mother to Queen.

"Absolutely," Minerva replied, and waved over one of the Monaghan staff. "Get the forms sent out immediately."

The staff member ran off and Minerva turned back to Galatea and Korra.

"Everything else is running smoothly, the florists are sending in samples, Oliver is preparing samples for decorations, and the caterer is discussing arrangements with the kitchens downstairs."

"Excellent work, Minerva," Galatea beamed, clasping her hands together. "I leave preparations, and my daughter, in your capable hands."

Minerva smiled, a small, barely there thing Korra thought she might have imagined as she gaped at them both.

"Really?" she asked- no, shrieked, a sharp upturn in her voice on the last syllable.

"Yes, really," Galatea said, pushing Korra gently towards Minerva. "Go!"


End file.
